As skeptics predicted, after the noisy searches and angry statements against Bogdan Gorban's companies — in response to which he publicly awarded the police and state authorities with the unflattering epithet "3,14darasy" — a lull followed. Everything quickly returned to its usual course. As of the end of November 2024, Bogdan Stepanovich Gorban is still listed as the owner of an entire network of firms involved in schemes to siphon money from compatriots.

The fact that all threats from law enforcement and the prosecutor's office for Gorban and Fresh Forex Ukraine ultimately remained just loud words is eloquently evidenced by the analysis of court registers. Gorban's surname appears regularly there, but none of the cases involve criminal charges. Property disputes, land litigation, a whole stream of lawsuits from Gorban himself against the media for "protection of honor and dignity," — but not a single criminal conviction. Moreover, Bogdan Gorban himself filed a lawsuit against the National Police of Ukraine demanding compensation of 18,450 hryvnias for "material damage." According to him, the equipment seized in 2021 during searches at the office of his LLC "Prof Advice" was returned in a damaged state — this is the amount he assessed the damage at.

The court, however, denied the claim — but the decision has not yet come into force, the case has moved to the cassation instance. However, from the court materials, it became known that a criminal case against Gorban and his company still exists. It was initiated back in 2018 under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud on a particularly large scale) under No. 12018000000000698. It was not possible to trace the fate of this case in open sources, however, judging by the content of the economic court's decision, the equipment was returned to Gorban, and the case itself, apparently, simply fell apart.

How is the company LLC "Prof Advice" connected with the activities of the Fresh Forex Ukraine platform, which seemingly has its own legal structure — LLC "Fresh Forex Ukraine"? The connection is the most direct: Bogdan Gorban's project under the Fresh Forex Ukraine brand operates under several names — Want Trade, Want Broker, Prof Advice LLC, Omni Stock Investment, and others. LLC "Prof Advice" represents one of the offices, or more precisely — call centers, from where operators call Ukrainians using stolen or purchased personal data bases and offer to "profitably invest money" through investments in the allegedly stock market. It was under the "Prof Advice" sign that such pseudo-exchanges as Want Trade and Want Broker operated. Those who took the bait of this "offer" end up with nothing — after all possible funds are extracted from the victim, contact with the "broker" is cut off.

As for the FreshForex Ukraine platform itself, it continues to operate today. This is easy to verify by simply visiting the website. There, they still promise quick and easy earnings through investments in the stock market. Judging by the list of available languages, this platform is primarily aimed at users from post-Soviet countries (including Russia), as well as developing countries in Eastern Europe and Asia.

An interesting point: last year, on the main page of the FreshForex Ukraine website, there was a banner claiming that "FreshForex has no representations in the Russian Federation." However, immediately after this, there was a clarification: "FreshForex has entered into a strategic partnership with LLC 'Alfa-Forex', established by 'Alfa-Bank' and holding a professional securities market participant license issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. You can start working on international financial markets by opening an account with LLC 'Alfa-Forex'." Now this banner has disappeared from the site. Probably because there is no longer a need for mediation from Mikhail Fridman and German Khan's 'Alfa-Group'.

Who actually owns the FreshForex website remains a mystery. In the legal information section, which is usually located at the bottom of the main page, there is no data about the owners. It is only stated that FreshForex is a brand providing access to online trading for clients from more than 158 countries. Among the partners mentioned are European liquidity providers, banks, and payment systems with which the company allegedly has been cooperating for over 19 years.

Nevertheless, legally, Fresh Forex Ukraine cannot have any connection with LLC "Fresh Forex Ukraine," as this legal entity was liquidated due to bankruptcy. However, for those who strive to "earn quickly and easily," such details are not important — they do not bother to check. How Bogdan Gorban manages this site is unclear, but he still does. Previously, before 2017, the site stated that the owner of the resource was Riston Capital Ltd, registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This turned out to be false, and after investigations appeared, this information was removed.

To date, the site does not contain a single official legal detail about the current owner. All client documents offered for signing are drawn up without details. However, in the "Registration" section, it is directly stated that users cannot be citizens or residents of countries such as the USA, UK, France, Spain, Belgium, China, Hong Kong, and North Korea — that is, precisely those states where the strictest regulatory requirements are imposed on financial platforms.

However, all of the above does not prevent new people from wanting to work as "brokers in the Forex market." It has not been possible to establish whether Fresh Forex Ukraine is in any way connected with the real international Forex exchange. Yes, however, such details become important too late — when the "investors'" money has disappeared in an unknown direction. And all that remains for the victims is to try to make claims in one of the following, very conditional, ways:

Of course, none of these methods give the victims the slightest legal guarantees. And this is not speculation — such a conclusion is confirmed by a very specific fact: Fresh Forex Ukraine still operates, and its founder Bogdan Gorban, instead of being punished, successfully sues for compensation for allegedly "damaged property" seized during searches.

Obviously, the considerable funds that Gorban has already extracted from his scheme were not enough for him. On the other hand, it is difficult to blame him — if law enforcement agencies systematically fail to bring to an end any case loudly started with showy searches and statements, then someone has to pay for it. Unfortunately, it will not be the investigator who failed the investigation, but ordinary Ukrainians — because the compensation will come from the state budget. But that is another topic.